The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

But what really locked Capital One into its WCIA slot for this tournament is the recent purchase of online bank ING Direct. In addition to ING customers who are terrified of what is going to happen to their favorite bank, several readers expressed concern about Capital One’s rapid growth — and the government’s rather rapid approval of the merger — at a time when the economy is still reeling from the failure of a handful of mega-banks.

And then there’s good ol’ PayPal. If you want to sell things online, it’s all but a given that you’ll need to deal PayPal, especially considering its incestuous relationship with parent company eBay.